Cloud and Leaf
by Jan Lee
Summary: SUPER-ONESHOT. Omoi plays a game with Ino and realizes, much too late, she's the one playing him. Omoi-centric. Omoi/Ino. Yes, Omoi/Ino. Lemon.


**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

**Rating: M**, for language and adult themes and sex.

**A/N: **Anyone who's read any of my Ino fics knows that I like her strong and cunning. So here's just another example of Ino kicking ass. And on a more selfish note, I wanted to be the first person to write and post an Omoi/Ino fic. So, yeah, FIRST! Yes, it's crackalicious, but so fulfilling to be a pioneer in the tried and true Naruto fandom. Enjoy.

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**- - Cloud and Leaf - -**

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The sunlight here irritated him. Lightning country had maybe a combined three weeks of sunshine in a year. How could anyone see anything around here?

Omoi lifted a hand to shade his eyes. There. On the face of the mountain, like, two hundred feet from solid ground. Captain Samui _knew _he didn't like heights. What if a board snapped and he couldn't find a handhold and he died? Who would avenge Killerbee then?

Murmuring, he mimicked Samui's voice. "Meet us at Konoha Library. Don't dawdle, blah, blah, blah." He dropped his hand. "Like I wanna be stuck in a library scribbling facts. Karui's right…we can fact-find on our own."

That had been the main reason for splitting from Karui and Samui. He'd wanted one more go at questioning others about the Uchiha. And since the Leaf were too busy rebuilding the village, he felt fairly comfortable wandering around without Karui and without fear of attack.

Any shinobi stupid enough to confront an ambassador from a foreign country, when his village didn't even have _walls_, deserved whatever horrible death came to him.

His thoughts connected again to his master. Where was Killerbee? What had happened? Where was he now? Alive? Dead?

The cherry sucker in his mouth rotated around, and before he could stop himself, he crunched it with his back teeth. Dammit, that had been his last sucker. He was taking its original wrapper out of his pocket when a light _taptap_ drew his attention to a girl in front of him.

Blonde hair. Blue eyes. Purple outfit that Karui would say was too skimpy. Killer abs and strong-looking arms. Great rack. Definitely Leaf.

Carefully, he bundled the sucker stick in the wrapper and deposited the trash in a pocket. He'd find a trashcan later, maybe when he got up the nerve to climb the ramp to the library.

"Hey." The girl's haughty voice brought his attention back to her. "Hey, you're from Cloud, right?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

She stepped closer to him, and he tensed slightly. Regardless of Konoha's current state, being in another village always made him edgy, anxious. The short-lived fight with the other Konoha nins didn't help either.

"Omi?" Her head tilted. "Or was it…Omoi?"

"Omoi. What do you want?"

"Nothing. I was curious." She smiled when he hesitated. "You don't have to worry. I'm here to talk."

Annoyance, ever coupled with his worry, started to swell. He scowled at her.

"Unless you have information on Uchiha Sasuke, get out of my way."

"It must be hard losing your master like that."

Her sympathy made him suspicious, so he stared at her, assessing, but she looked sincere. Her words resonated in him…that Naruto guy had sympathized with them as well. What _was_ it with this village?

"What're you talking about? Our master is alive." He had to believe it. "Even so, that bastard attacked our village. And we're gonna destroy him for it."

She glared, anger glimmering in her eyes. "Is that all you can talk about? Revenge?"

"That's the way the world works."

"Is that how you really feel, or do you allow your teammates to feel for you? C'mon, _Omi_, gimme a _real _answer."

A moment passed as he considered the meaning of her words. Her petty insult didn't rile him. But her comment on his feelings…he narrowed his eyes. She had essentially accused him of not feeling, of not _thinking_, for himself. How. Dare. She.

Now he was riled. "Shut up. You don't know anything about me!"

"And you," she stepped even closer, smirking, "don't know anything about me."

This Leaf had singlehandedly changed the atmosphere around them, intensifying it to a level that crackled and sparked. Her words sounded like she wanted to continue their discussion, but not with words.

Whoa. This girl was a triple threat: a babe, blonde, and a bitch.

He recognized the game she played for what it was. True, he worried about his master. True, he should meet his team at the library. But this blonde babe intrigued him. And she might have information about the Uchiha he could persuade from her.

He nodded his chin at her. "What's your name?"

"Ino."

She circled him, hand trailing across his chest, around his shoulder, across his back, and around his other shoulder. He felt distinctly like she was appraising him.

"My. You have a big sword."

Damn, she'd loaded those words with innuendo.

"Do you like big swords?" His voice sounded husky even to himself. He blamed her light touch. "You don't seem like you could handle one."

Her expression changed and was red-hot seductive. He had been kidding with Karui when they'd talked about dating hotties in the village, but seemed the situation had come to fruition. His heart leapt to his throat when this girl stepped _into him_.

He had gone insane in the brief interval of time. All he could think of was how her breasts pressed against him through his flak jacket and how he wanted to rip those nonexistent clothes off her.

"Oh, I handle swords all the time," she whispered.

Where did his saliva go? He swallowed, watching as she leaned and stretched her lithe body up his to reach his height. Heat bolted through him when her arms slid around his neck. Her mouth closed in. More heat- -an inferno. Too close. She was too-

And then she kissed him.

It was at first a gentle kiss. Her mouth moved slow and sweetly over his, her tongue tracing his lower lip, then his upper lip, before he thought to react. His hands went to her back, one settling in the bare-skinned dip just above her ass and the other right between her shoulder blades.

A long ponytail got trapped under his palms. Didn't matter. It felt like a silk ribbon. Smelled good, too.

He kept her tight against him as his tongue met hers, slick, warm, and when he got a little lost in the kiss, she pulled away.

"Mmmm, cherry." That sexy whisper raised a tingle on his spine, from first vertebrae to last. Her lips brushed his ear. "My favorite."

He gasped when this girl nibbled his earlobe.

"Why don't you come out to play?" she asked. "Or are you too busy?"

Okay, okay. Think. Play her game. "No, I'm not busy at all. What did you want to play?"

Ino's lips found his again. The kiss jolted electricity through him, and the air went out of his lungs when her hands caressed his neck.

Her fingers dipped under his hitai-ate, ruffling his hair. He couldn't think, not when her tongue retreated so that he had to delve into her mouth to extend the kiss. She gave to him willingly, even sighing some when his hand sneaked up to cup the side of her breast.

A knee shifted between his legs and lifted, gently rubbing. The groan from his throat surprised him. His body's apparent reaction surprised him more. Pressure increased, causing a throb in his groin. Ino had turned him _on_.

Somehow she broke his hold on her and hopped a couple feet away. In her hand twirled his hitai-ate.

She'd left him panting. He didn't like that, and especially didn't like she'd taken off his hitai-ate without him realizing it.

"Oy! That's mine!"

When he lunged for her, she skipped another few feet back, the bandanna a blurred circle in front of her. A smirk as she flicked her ponytail over her shoulder.

"If you can get your hitai-ate from me within a half-hour, I'll tell you everything I know about Sasuke. If not, you have to convince your team to avoid killing him."

She tossed him something, and he plucked it from the air automatically- -a stopwatch with twenty-nine minutes and fifty-five seconds (and counting).

Ino didn't wait for his answer before she shot into the trees. "Let's go, Cloud!"

"I-I haven't agreed!"

She stopped and looked over her shoulder. "Do you want to know about Sasuke or not?"

"Well…yeah, but you can't just-"

She laughed, throaty and entrancing. "You'll have to play first."

A breeze swayed the branches of the tree; a cluster of leaves blocked her from view. When it settled, she was gone.

"Ah, what the hell?"

More exasperated than enraged or irritated, Omoi sprung up and charged into the thick green, silently dashing along the branches in Ino's direction. How'd he gotten himself in this mess? Karui would tease him mercilessly that some Leaf chick had tricked him into playing her stupid game.

The worst part was…he'd allowed her trap to close on him. Ino had known he'd do anything for information on Uchiha, and that simple weakness became the crux of her plan. It had worked like magic on him.

However, he didn't have to go by her rules. He could conceivably stop chasing and walk away. Let her have his hitai-ate. But then the opportunity to gather information would slip through his fingers. Even if Ino was lying about knowing Uchiha, he couldn't risk losing that opportunity- -he'd never forgive himself, and neither would Karui if she found out.

He missed seeing the exploding tag, but the telltale hissing of the detonator warned him. If not for his fast reaction speed, he'd have been barbequed. The blast tossed him through foliage, branches snapping under his body, and slammed him into a tree trunk.

Back bruised and aching, he managed a dignified landing on a sturdy tree limb, where he knelt, gasping. The hit had knocked the air out of him. Smoke choked him; stung his eyes. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and calmed down.

"Close," he told himself. "Too close."

"You know, it's not healthy to talk to yourself." _Ino_. "I'm surprised you got out of the way in time."

Her teasing tone aggravated him, but he had to remain calm- -in control. Standing, he lifted a hand to his sword hilt and scanned the quiet canopy. No sense in unsheathing his weapon yet until Ino showed herself.

"Are you _trying_ to kill me?" he called to her.

Indeed, the intensity of the blast had baked his skin through his clothes. Crazy bitch. She probably _had _wanted to kill him. One less nin after her precious traitor Uchiha.

Silence as birds chirped. Cicadas droned. A quiet breeze. Nothing gave away her position…he cocked his head. Whe-ere was the dancing Leaf? Whe-ere wa-as she…?

Leaves rustled behind him. He whipped around in time to deflect a barrage of shuriken with his sword. Without wasting another moment, he charged to follow the shuriken's flight path back to Ino's position. Should've know she'd be up ahead, holed up in another tree.

He realized his rookie mistake too late.

This time, the bomb was much larger, but a beat before the explosion consumed him, he pulled off a fast jutsu. Safe in the dark of the underground, he waited for the fire above to die. Smoke and heat burned his lungs, his eyes watered, but the discomfort was temporary. His shame, though…his shame would hound him for days afterward.

_Dammit._ He had _dropped_ his sword to execute the jutsu. That had never happened before. What was his deal, anyway? Some girl comes along and throws his entire world off axis? Ridiculous. Unheard of. His focus…where was his focus?

So far Ino had tripped him up with an exploding tag, shuriken released by wire, and a bomb. He didn't have his main weapon. Four strikes against him without trying. The problem, he realized, lay in that she knew her surroundings. He was not a tracker- -Karui excelled at that- -and he was after prey. Prey that had traps and tricks set for the hunter.

And that made _him_ the prey.

Oh. Idiot. He'd been thinking this the wrong way. _She _hunted _him_. Clever guise indeed making him chase after her like that. Well, he could turn this fight to his advantage still.

He would force her to chase him and would lead her in a merry romp through the forest, eventually leading to a trap of ingenious design. Now. Trap of ingenious design…where to get one?

As he thought, he toyed with the stopwatch and found the button to light the display by accident. Whoa, _shit_. Twelve minutes had passed. Maybe the trap idea was too ambitious.

A summons would work to his advantage. His mountain kites flew quickly, had acute eyesight, and would be able to keep Ino under surveillance. In that way, he could engage her in taijutsu and have a better chance of winning back his hitai-ate.

Omoi exploded from the ground, thumb already between his teeth. Ino was waiting for him. In the nick of time, he avoided the blow from her blade. He ducked and by sheer luck, discovered his sword embedded in a nearby tree.

Yanking free the weapon, he whirled to face Ino. She stood across from him, stance relaxed and prepped. He saw that she had put on her own flak jacket and had tied his hitai-ate around her prim waist. The metal winked at him in the sunlight. Oh, yeah, he could win this.

"I think you should look again at your strategy," he told her casually. "You won't win against me with a kitchen knife."

His weapon was a long sword. Hers was a katana and therefore, much shorter by about a foot and half. He had range, experience, and talent…sword-fighting was a traditional occupation in Cloud, and his family had sword-fighting in their genes. Konoha used their shuriken and kunai; a rare few had katanas, and he'd seen none who wielded long swords.

That arrogant smirk showed itself. "You're thinking on your own? Behold, the miracle of men."

The dig worked on him, and he hated that she knew how to press his buttons. Ino would find out how sorely she miscalculated. That katana wouldn't last long in her tiny hands.

He crouched. "Are you ready? Here I come."

If she was or not, it didn't matter. He sprung, executing a flurry of blows. Their blades clanged together; she deflected his attacks. Not bad. He attacked again at a furious speed. Over, under, again and again. Ino twisted, turned, but he saw his superior power pushing her back.

Her manipulation of the katana did not match his, and he flicked the end of the sword between her hands on the hilt and pried. Of course, the katana flew end-over-end into the surrounding trees. Where it landed, he didn't look; he kept his eyes ahead on Ino.

He rested the razor sword edge under her pale jaw, right above the collar of her flak jacket. Back straight, she gazed at him, attractively out of breath.

It was his turn to smirk. "I told you."

"So you did. Come claim your prize."

His throat tightened. "What?'

It wasn't that he didn't hear her. It was how she didn't hide her interest in him, how she didn't let up for one second, looking at him with bedroom eyes from the wrong end of a sword. Ino slid her fingers along the flat of the sword.

"I _said_, come claim your prize." Her chin lifted. "Are _you_ ready?"

Was he…_ready_? The hell? "Yeah."

"Prove it."

She reached up and undid her ponytail. Long golden strands flowed over her shoulders, arms, down to her thighs. He wanted her. He shouldn't. He should grab his hitai-ate from her and meet his team at the library. Not watch as she unzipped her flak jacket, shedding and casting it to the side, stopping the breath in his lungs.

His blade rested against the junction of her shoulder and neck. She stood there, topless, breasts full and round. Pretty pink nipples had already hardened. Arousal that hadn't quite gotten out of his system came back full force. Pressure coiled under his stomach.

"I'm waiting," she told him softly. "Or do you need another female to tell you what to do?"

The jeer hit home, inducing a painful pinch in his heart. Her implication was that he submitted to female authority, and so could not function as man by himself. He _had_ lived his life under the command of strong women- -women who acted more masculine than he did. He'd never had to court, per se, because the females he'd had intimate relationships with took from him what they wanted.

It had been _his mother _who had handed him over to Killerbee for training, thinking that Killerbee's masculinity would influence Omoi's own. He had tried imitating Killerbee's take-no-shit-attitude, but never felt comfortable throwing around his weight, especially with strong-minded Karui beside him, ready to beat and clobber him if he tried lording over her.

He sneered. "I don't need a girl to tell me what to do."

"Yes. You do." Her eyes drilled into him. "How many times have you questioned Killerbee's orders? Or your _father's_? But whatever your mother says, or your sisters say, or your teammates say, you'll do it. You might fight and slouch and complain, but you'll _do _it, no questions asked."

How had Ino known that? No dossier would reveal those details. Karui didn't know and wouldn't tell if she did. Ino _didn't know_ _him_, and she did. It was like her eyes saw right into him, cutting through his solid body to his mind. Defensive and nervous, he moved in, rotating the blade so that the line of it spanned her jugular. One quick slice would end her life, breasts bare or not, Leaf or not.

"Tell me how you know."

He had wanted to threaten with proximity, but Ino wasn't afraid of him. In fact, she hadn't been from the beginning of this encounter, and it was more like she trusted him than feared him. Her hands covered his, which gripped the sword hilt too tightly, and massaged them until they loosened.

"You don't need this anymore," she said. "I can give you what you want without it."

Her mood had shifted. For as long as he'd been living and fighting with (and beside) women, he knew about mood shifts. Ino had been playful and alluring since the moment he met her. Now…she was something different. He wasn't sure what it was, and he knew only that she no longer threatened him.

Mystified, he allowed her to take his sword. "How? How do you know?"

She reached up and sheathed it for him, her breasts swaying with the movement, so close and tempting. If he touched her, would he be betraying his village? Would anyone find out if he did?

"I looked underneath the underneath." Her soft comment clouded his thoughts, as Ino took his hand and kissed his knuckles. "You need me. Who we're loyal to doesn't matter right now. Only _we _matter. _This_."

She'd shattered him. There could be no more thinking. He had crumbled under his lust for the vulnerable side Ino was showing. The differences between Leaf and Cloud didn't exist anymore. They were a boy and a girl, fooling around in the woods.

His hands went to her breasts, found them soft and heavy. Ino groaned; gasped, when he swooped his thumbs over her nipples. She popped the button to his flak jacket, lifting it over his head and tossing it aside.

Their mouths met. Desperate, hard kissing. He tasted honey, ran his tongue over the edge of her teeth and deeper in her mouth for more. There was no stopping to breathe. The hot arousal throbbed through him, suffocating him, rushing him forward. She tore at his shirt the same time he fumbled with the fastenings on his pants.

Oh, God. His swollen dick sprang out eagerly, so hard as to be uncomfortable. He pushed her down. She made a surprised noise as she fell, and he hesitated, suddenly worried he'd been too rough with her. The girl was so slender, the shove he'd given her could break her.

Ino propped up on her elbows. Her breasts rose and fell with her panting. "What's wrong?"

A moment passed as he stared at her, realizing that she'd submitted to him, that she expected him to take her at his own pace. He hadn't hurt her; he was sure he wouldn't be able to.

"Nothing," he answered. "Am I moving too fast?"

"I like going fast."

She shifted. The view became one of his favorites when she docilely laid back and folded her arms above her head. Automatically, he knelt at her feet and worked off her boot. He had an ankle fixation, and hers were the most delicate he'd seen. Her ankles surprised him, like the flash of ankle a geisha showed when entertaining.

Ino laughed when he licked and bit the soft flesh, and when he took off her other boot and treated that ankle with nips, he felt a pleasurable pressure on his hard-on. Gasping, he looked down. Her free foot rubbed him. In the muddle of lust, somehow the absence of purple caught his attention.

He glanced down the length of her leg, and a deep ache spread from his ballsack up his belly, up his chest, and fisted at the base of his neck. Somehow, as he'd toyed with her ankles, she'd removed her skirt.

There was nothing separating her sex and his. From where he looked, he could see how wet she was. He abandoned her foot and grabbed her knees. Hastily, he dragged her closer. She spread her legs to accommodate his waist as he leaned over her, his hitai-ate smashed between them.

"Omoi…"

His name was a sigh from her. To torture them both, he pressed his length to her heated folds. His pleasure intensified, crested; a grunt escaped him as Ino squirmed and cried out when he pressed harder.

Yes. This was exactly what he wanted. A woman writhing under him, eyes screwed shut from the euphoria he gave her, his name in her throat. He only had to travel to a different country to find someone pliable to his darkest desire.

He shifted, prepping a hand to help guide himself into her, but she stopped him.

"Wait a second." No! What now? "I think we can agree that there should be no illegitimate children from this."

She had a point. Ino reached over, grabbed a little square of foil, and handed it to him. A condom.

"You're right."

At least one of them had been thinking. He fooled with the condom wrapper for a couple seconds before opening it and getting the condom on. Protected and harder than he'd ever been, he covered her with his body and nestled his hips with hers again. This time, she didn't stop him from slipping into her.

She inhaled sharply; his breath caught in his throat. Whoa. Hot and snug came to mind. Experimentally, he rocked his hips. The flare of burning pleasure made him grunt.

"Oh!" Ino cried.

Her hands flew to his head and tugged him in for a kiss. As their mouths crushed together, he rocked again. A hot pulse. He swallowed her cry and didn't hesitate- -she felt too good. Soon, he shared a steady rhythm with her.

He loved the noises she made; sexy little 'ohs' and sometimes 'mmms' for each time he thrust into her. If he did it extra hard, she arched her back for him and cried out. Those moments gave him a boost, a high that his body reveled in, muscles tensing and winding closer to orgasm.

His hands moved restlessly over her skin, sometimes finding the sides of her breasts, sometimes jamming under her shoulders, sometimes curling around the back of her thigh to lift her leg.

Sweat dripped from his face to hers. He liked the sheen of it on her skin, the taste of salt on her throat. Their sex-smell seeped up into his brain, locked all other parts down completely. Nothing else got through except fucking her.

Body hummed with the heat. One hard thrust broke his rhythm. Then all that he focused on was the physical connection between them, the sudden tightening of his body. No thinking through it. He pumped her deeper and harder, erratic. Her cries were loud, her hips lifting to his.

He came- -clenching heat and an explosion of released pressure. Shudders and his own cry under her shriek. One last thrust just because. And he finished.

Spent, he rolled to his side and as he did, he became aware of a _beepbeepbeep_-ing. What the-?

Dazedly, he watched Ino slip her hand inside his shirt and withdraw the stopwatch he'd put in an inner pocket. Oh. She clicked a button; the beeping cut off.

Her mouth curled. "Thirty minutes. I win."

At first he couldn't comprehend what she meant. Then he understood…she'd used the sex as a distraction. He hadn't seen, hadn't thought, and had let her entrap him like some stupid, green-behind-the-ears genin!

Anger burst forth, fiery and snarling. He grabbed the stopwatch from her hand and winged it into a tree. It shattered to pieces.

Before he could stop himself, he had pinned Ino to the ground. One hand clutched her neck; the other held down her arm. Heart pumping with adrenaline, the aftermath of sex buzzing his nerves, he lost it.

"Who the_ fuck _do you think you are? You think some stupid sex game is gonna stop me from killing that fuckhead Uchiha? I'm gonna slice him apart!"

She replied, scathingly, voice hoarse from his tight grip. "Big words for a _little man_."

A cold chill cut through him like ice wind. 'Little Man' had been his family's nickname for him since he'd been born. Youngest of five sisters, his father always absent, Little Man had been assigned him from all the adults in his extended family. He'd hated it.

It implied that he was never fully grown, that he was the baby and dependent on others. When he fought against the nickname, his family thought it 'cute' and continued using it with more frequency. He'd hated it especially when Killerbee had said it to humiliate him. Karui tried calling him that once, but Omoi had punched her so hard, she never said it to him again.

Ino had reached into him and withdrew the memory to hurt him. How? How had she- -shit. _Shit_.

Jutsu. She was using jutsu on him. That sudden conclusion sickened him, but he molded his fingers.

"Kai release!"

Still underneath him, Ino laughed. "It's not genjutsu."

So it was a type of ninjutsu, then.

"Right," she said, and she tapped his nose.

Some sort of telepathy?

Ino tapped his nose again. She smiled at him, obviously enjoying these revelations he was having. He felt…violated, like he'd been taken advantage of and used against his will. His thoughts, so personal in nature, were solely _his own_, and she'd seen them.

Maybe even…maybe even _influenced _them.

Palms clammy with nerves, Omoi scuttled away, rightly horrified that he'd been toyed with. And not just now…_from the start_. All her words and actions had been carefully executed; she'd been in control and had let him _think_ he'd been the one in control. The fear of her power clutched his stomach.

When she stood, rising over him, her eyes cold and piercing, he comprehended her intention. If he killed the Uchiha, _she'd _kill _him_. Or Karui. Or Samui. Or whoever ended the Uchiha's life. All this time she'd demonstrated her power, her _will _to prove that at any time, she could have murdered him.

"Do you understand now?" she asked. "Do you know what will happen if you pursue your revenge?"

He considered himself a damn good shinobi. Karui and Samui, too. But against _this_, this mind-melt from _one _Leaf ninja made him think what the others could do. And if they worked together as well as he'd heard…well, three Cloud nins against seven Leaf weren't great odds. Even ones as highly and specially trained as his team.

Ino had indomitable confidence, showed no concern for her nudity. Nothing could get under her skin_._ Nothing fazed her. Her inner-strength outstripped that of any of the women he knew.

At that moment, his fear swung to something deeper creeping up along the dark insides of his brain. Attraction. She _terrified _him and he _loved _it. Something was seriously wrong with him to like having her pull his strings. Couldn't show that; couldn't let her know she still had him wrapped around her beautiful ankl…pinkie finger.

"Yeah." He licked his lips. "I think I can handle being killed by someone like you."

Killed? Enslaved. Tortured. _Anything_ to get a taste of her again, to feel her manipulate and submit him like she had already. His need for her manipulation rose bile in his throat, made him hate himself. But he couldn't help the feelings- -he _craved _her control over him. _What the fuck was wrong with him?_

She huffed. "Moron. I don't_ want_ to kill you."

Incredulous, nervous, he watched her offer him a hand. 'Don't do it, man, don't do it,' a voice warned.

He smacked her hand away. "You're kidding, right? You expect me to believe you after you _use_ me?"

"Oh, _come on_!" Ino retorted. "You _like _it. And…I like you."

"You like me? You _like_ me? You put me through this…_charade_ because…_you_…_like_…_me_?"

"Listen up, Omi," she leaned over- -splendid view- -to get closer to him, "I could've gone after Karui or Samui, but you handle being manipulated better. You're not destroyed. They would've been, and still _could_ be. So…I did your team a favor and you _know _it. Thank me later."

Ino reached down again. Stunned, he took her hand and allowed her to haul him up. Surprising strength in the way she gripped his wrist and pulled him. Such beauty in her body and hair and eyes. He noticed the bow-shape of her mouth, the natural arch of her brow.

No doubt Ino would be able to seduce sex-crazed Karui, especially since Karui didn't mind women as lovers. Samui would have had a better chance of defending herself. Neither would immediately see the manipulation, so subtly and skillfully Ino laid her traps.

He could warn them, _tell _them about his rendezvous, but Ino would anticipate that; he knew it. Even then, by the time they _did _see the trap, it would snap shut, and what psychological damage would result?

Both were hardcore, disciplined soldiers. Proud. Confident. Karui thrived on being in control and so did Samui. To suddenly realize that there had been no difference in zigging or zagging, that the result would be same- -it would eat them up inside. So his decision was simple.

He would have to find a way to keep Karui and Samui from killing the Uchiha to protect them from Ino's formidable talent. His logic had boiled around her words, and it came down to this: she was right about everything.

He spoke quietly. "I hate you."

"No, you don't." She flicked her hair over her shoulder. "Get dressed so we can go."

Not so fast, blondie. Before she turned, he grabbed her nape and crushed her with a hard kiss. He felt her mood shift- -Ah! Something she hadn't been expecting- -but her lips gave way, and they shared their mouths.

As suddenly as the kiss, he released her; she flitted out of reach without saying a word. Man, he needed a sucker. Something like blue-raspberry to deaden the giddiness he felt and to overwhelm the thick honey on his tongue that he liked too much.

He fixed up his clothes, a little sadly, a little guiltily, and adjusted his flak jacket over his shoulder. When he looked to the Leaf, she had dressed as well.

Ino approached him, arrogance in the lift of her chin. A hitai-ate dangled from her fingers.

"This is yours."

Taking it, he smirked. "Yeah. So it is."

Their hands touched. A fluttering thrill responded to the light brush. Damn, she was gonna be the death of him. Sometime, in the future, he would have to get back here and play another round with this Leaf.

He looked forward to exacting sweet revenge, but first, he had to sabotage his team's efforts in tracking and killing Uchiha. Oh, joy.

* * *

**A/N: **And so we have it: the very first Omoi/Ino fic. I toyed _a lot _with Omoi's background, but since not much is explained, I was able to use heavy artistic license. I left plenty of room for another one, so if the response is good, I may end up writing a sequel. Thanks for reading!

_Edited 07/02/12: corrected hyphens to dashes for smoother reading_


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